modular systems that use a common power
supply for both the systems and the poE
equipment. In the FastIron Superx/Sx
family, the power consumption of a line
module’s poE circuitry does not impact
the system power. Similarly, the power
consumption of the line modules, switch
modules, and management modules does
not impact the poE power.
power consumption for the system and poE
are calculated, provisioned, and managed
independently of one another. As more poE
devices are added to a switch, a simple
power budget calculation determines
whether another poE power supply needs
to be added to the switch. The system
power distribution and the poE power
distribution subsystems are each designed
for m+N load-sharing operation. This dual-
distribution power design simplifies the
power configuration of the system while
enhancing system reliability.
The chassis can be configured for a wide
range of power environments including:
110V/220V AC power, -48V DC power and
mixed AC/DC power configurations. To scale
PoE configurations, PoE power supplies
are available in two ratings—1250W
and 2500W. When configured with four
2500W poE supplies, the FastIron Sx
1600 supports up to 384 10/100/1000
mbps Class 3 poE ports and still maintains
N+1 power redundancy. This resiliency is
unmatched in the industry.
Intelligent and Scalable Power Over
Ethernet (PoE)
poE is a key enabler of applications such
as VoIp, IEEE 802.11 wireless lANs, and Ip
video. The FastIron Superx/Sx is a third-
generation poE-capable switch family and
incorporates the latest advances in poE
provisioning and system design, delivering
scalable and intelligent poE to the enterprise.
The poE power distribution subsystem
is independent of the system power,
eliminating system disruption in the event of
poE over-subscription or a poE power failure.
Customers have the choice of purchasing
poE-ready line modules or upgrading
10/100/1000 mbps line modules when
needed with field-installable PoE daughter
modules. poE power per port can be
manually or dynamically configured. Dynamic
configuration is supported using standards-
based autodiscovery or legacy layer 2
discovery protocols. port priorities are also
configurable and are used to prioritize PoE
power in over-subscribed configurations.
Advanced QoS and Low Latency for
Enterprise Convergence
The FastIron Superx/Sx family offers
superior quality of service (QoS) features
that enable network administrators to
prioritize high-priority and delay-sensitive
services throughout the network. FastIron
Superx/Sx switches can classify, re-classify,
police, mark, and re-mark an Ethernet
frame or an Ip packet prior to delivery.
This flexibility lets network administrators
discriminate among various traffic flows and
enforce packet-scheduling policies based on
Layer 2 and Layer 3 QoS fields.
Once classified, the traffic is queued and
scheduled for delivery. Three configurable
queuing options provide the network
administrator with flexible control over how
the system services the queues. Weighted
Round Robin (WRR) queuing applies user-
configured weighting for servicing multiple
queues, ensuring that even low priority
queues are not starved for bandwidth. With
Strict priority (Sp) queuing, queues are
serviced in priority order ensuring that the
highest-priority traffic is serviced ahead of
lower priority queues. Combined Sp and
WRR queuing ensures that packets in the
Sp queue are serviced ahead of the WRR
queues. Combined queuing is often used
in VoIP networks where the VoIP traffic is
assigned to the SP queue and data traffic
is assigned to the WRR queues.
In addition, the switch management modules
are available with integrated Gigabit Ethernet
or 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports. These modules
provide cost-effective system configurations
supporting high-capacity connections to
upstream switches. The management
modules utilize high-performance system
processors with high-capacity memory for
scalable networking up to a routing capacity
of 1 million BGp routes and 20 BGp peers.
The FastIron Superx/Sx switches utilize an
advanced cell-based switch fabric with internal
flow-control, ensuring very low latency and jitter
performance for converged applications.
Ease of Use: Plug and Play
The FastIron Superx/Sx family supports
the IEEE 802.1AB llDp and ANSI TIA 1057
llDp-mED standards, enabling organizations
to build open convergence, advanced multi-
vendor networks. LLDP greatly simplifies
and enhances network management, asset
management, and network troubleshooting.
For example, it enables discovery of accurate
physical network topologies, including those
that have multiple VlANs where all subnets
may not be known. llDp-mED addresses the
unique needs that voice and video demand
in a converged network by advertising media
and IP telephony specific messages that
can be exchanged between the network and
the endpoint devices. llDp-mED provides
exceptional interoperability, Ip telephony
troubleshooting, and automatic deployment
of policies, inventory management, advanced
poE power negotiation, and E911 location/
emergency call service. These sophisticated
features make converged network services
easier to install, manage, and upgrade and
significantly reduce operations costs.
